A Theology of Healing

Cover of "Wonder" by R.J. Palacio

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. 

Matthew 4:23(KJV)

Sometimes you are given the gift of words and that is what happened, specifically, a sermon delivered by Dr. Sam Wells at Duke Chapel on February 15, 2009, titled “Does God Heal?” .  His words were “good old news”!  How did I miss this sermon?  At about the same time, I began reading my granddaughter’s recommended novel, Wonder, by R. J. Palacio.  Here is a story of healing that is a hit among 9 year olds!

The problem is how we understand what we are asking for and how this is relates to the healing as reported in the Bible.  What is clear is that we all need to know where “God Is?” in the midst of disease and pain!  An emphasis of Dr. Wells is the importance of the definitions and how they help us understand our deepest questions.  For Auggie, the protagonist in Wonder, we become part of a story of courage and caring in the real world of suspicion, doubt and fear.  This is a wonderful story of healing!

For Christians we have the powerful model of Jesus Christ who not only healed those around him, but brought healing to a suffering world where we have the privilege to be a part of His work.  We have been blessed with stories/sermons that get us close to the healing that is around us that we fail to name!  

Thanks,

Marvin

References;

Sermon by Dr. Sam Wells, 2/15/’2009 at Duke Chapel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKpS8zgg6TE

Palacio, R. J. (2013). Wonder. Random House. 

Interview with the author RJ Palacio 

http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=221005752&m=221844123

Hage, M. L. (2010). Healing Agents: Christian Perspectives Second Edition (2 ed.)

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

Hage, M. L. (2011). The Mystery of Healing. 

Retrieved from http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2011/04/mystery-of-healing.html

Hage, M. L. (2012). Recognizing Healing. 

Retrieved from http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2012/04/recognizing-healing.html

Hage, M. L. (2013). The Nature of Healing. Retrieved from 

http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-nature-of-healing.html

Healing Art

Doctor and Doll by Norman Rockwell

“‘In the last days, God says,

    I will pour out my Spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy,

    your young men will see visions,

    your old men will dream dreams.

Acts 2:17 (NIV)

We just finished a wonderful and color-filled autumn trip to the Northeast United States.  One of the highlights was the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.  I was moved by the character and vision of this man as captured in his voluminous depictions of American life and ideals.  

Where are we to find this kind of healing vision?  How can we capture a healing art in this complicated and cynical world?  My conclusion is that just like this Norman Rockwell image, it is found in both the old and the young where reality is created despite the evidence.  It is found in the visions of both!  It doesn’t deny the evidence, it sees beyond it.  Thanks for the healing art of Norman Rockwell.

Marvin

References

The Norman Rockwell Museum http://www.nrm.org/

Hage, M. L. (2011). Healing - Other Views. 

  Retrieved from http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2011/08/healing-other-views.html

Hage, M. L. (2011). Healing, HeLa and Heaven.

  Retrieved from http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2011/05/healing-hela-and-heaven.html

Healing Ebola

So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.

Numbers 21:9 (NIV)

“ Then to love the sick, each and all of them, more than if my own body were at stake.”

Paracelsus (1493–1541)

Just listen to the first person report of the care being provided!  Can you believe the courage it takes!   Physicians and nurses tell stories that help us to hear and see the reality of our fears and those of our patients.  We have the wonderful opportunity to be part of those stories.

We need to continue to look carefully for cures and methods of prevention for all those at risk.  But just as important, we need to pray for courage and relief from the fear that would paralyze all our efforts.   Thanks be to God for the healing agents who have given their lives caring for the most vulnerable.

Marvin

References:

The Oath of Paraselsus Retrieved from http://weeksmd.com/2009/08/the-oath-of-paracelsus/

StoryCorps report that aired on NPR on October 10, 2014  Retrieved from

http://www.npr.org/2014/10/10/354888965/when-holding-an-orphaned-baby-can-mean-contracting-ebola

Hage, M. L. (2012). God’s Grace. Retrieved from http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2012/10/gods-grace.html

Hage, M. L. (2011). Good Courage and Healing. Retrieved from http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2011/05/good-courage-and-healing.html

Humor and Healing

A cheerful disposition is good for your health; gloom and doom leave you bone-tired.

Proverbs 17:22 The Message (MSG)

It was an unplanned event, but we did get to attend the local university’s performance of Moliere’s The Doctor In Spite of Himself.  This performance was a 21st century adaptation of a 17th century farce on the foibles of medicine.  It is hard to fine any humor in medicine, so this was a welcomed critique.  One of Moliere’s famous quotes is:  “As the purpose of comedy is to correct the vices of men, I see no reason why anyone should be exempt.”

I was reminded of the medical student shows “roasting” their professors and the first modern exploration of the healing power of laughter, Norman Cousin’s The Anatomy of an Illness. (1979)  This remarkable work taught us the value of comedy in medicine.  Later we were entertained by the true story of Dr. Patch Adams (1998) and his practice of healing humor.  But for Moliere, the purpose of the comedy was critique and a mirror on the deceit and pretention of the medical profession.

So let us continue to laugh at ourselves and find again the joy of medicine…it is a biblical prescription!

Marvin

References:

Retrieved from http://www.online-literature.com/moliere/

Willms, J. L. (1999). A Doctor in Spite of Himself. Retrieved from http://litmed.med.nyu.edu/Annotation?action=view&annid=1503

Cousins, N. (1983). Anatomy of an Illness. Bantam Doubleday Dell.

M.D, P. A. (1998). Gesundheit!: Bringing Good Health to You, the Medical System, and Society through Physician Service, Complementary Therapies, Humor, and Joy (Revised ed.). Healing Arts Press.

Healing Q&A

Therefore 

if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, 

if any comfort from his love, 

if any common sharing in the Spirit, 

if any tenderness and compassion, 

then make my joy complete

 by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.

Philippians 2:1-2 (NIV)

If you have had a recent interaction with the healthcare system, you may have experienced an encounter where you respond by filling out a survey, providing a list of medications and/or helping someone “filling in” a computer screen.  One question you may have to respond to is “Do you have any health beliefs that may interfere with your health care?”  

I need to confess that I have been part of this reality that can ask the wrong question as well as hide physicians (and others) behind the technology.   What if the technology helped us ask “better questions” or helped us “listen better” to the answers? 

We know that the patient’s story and it’s telling is a primary care response.  What we also know is that our faith communities help us all to tell our stories and can be a community that listens.  It is a place where we can ask the healing questions and provide that primary care that is too easily lost in our anonymous and lonely planet.

What if the questions were, “Is your faith important for us to understand during your treatment?” or “Will your faith community be part of your care?”.   What if the answer was that your church is a critical part of your care and your healing faith?

Marvin

References:

Hage, M. L., & Brouwer, D. (2013). Becoming a (Healing) Agent of Jesus. Retrieved from http://www.dougsblog.org/2013/01/

Shuman, J., & Volck, B. M. D. (2006). Reclaiming the Body: Christians and the Faithful Use of Modern Medicine (The Christian Practice of Everyday Life) (1 ed.). Brazos Press

Koenig HG. The spiritual history. Southern Medical Journal.  99(10):1159-60, 2006 Oct

Mueller PS.  Plevak DJ.  Rummans TA. Religious involvement, spirituality, and medicine: implications for clinical practice. [Review] [147 refs] Mayo Clinic Proceedings.  76(12):1225-35, 2001 Dec.

The Arc of Healing

“A New Day Promise” at Lake Michigan

I have set my rainbow in the clouds, 

and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.  

Genesis 9:13 New International Version (NIV)

“It is a strange glory, the glory of this God.” — 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, London Sermon, 1933

It is easy to get caught up in the 24 hour news cycle and recycle that leads us to a belief in the triumph of destruction and suffering in the world!  Can we still believe in the Genesis promise that destruction will not win and that wholeness will prevail?

When I hear the word “healing”, I usually find a deeper and more complex story.  It takes time to listen and understand the nuances.  Many times it is story of forgiveness.  Sometimes it is a story of resistance in the face of evil. 

I recently finished the book by Charles Marsh, Strange Glory: A Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  It is not just a story his life, but a record of complex events that made his life a testimony to a “strange glory”.  What was central is a deep belief that recognizes the sovereignty of God even in the most difficult times!  What is divine is how his testimony continues to bring healing and  gives us courage to live faithfully in a broken world. 

We can sing along with John McCutcheon “Alleluia, The Great Storm is Over” and claim the promises of a faithful God.

Marvin

References

Marsh, Charles (2014-04-29). Strange Glory: A Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (p. 2). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. 

Hage, M. L. (2013). Resistance/Resilience. Retrieved from 

http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2013/08/resistanceresilience.html

http://www.folkmusic.com/lyrics/great-storm-over

Heaven and Healing

“They don’t believe me, do they?  

Colton in “Heaven is for Real”

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. 

He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.   John 11:25 (NKJV)

Popular reports of “near death experiences” describe a kind of bliss that reports a profound healing that is named heaven.  How can we understand this depth of of this healing?  

Sometimes words and images fail us and we find an answer in music.  For me, those answers are in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Requiem and in Jonathan Elias’s Prayer Cycle.  When listening to these works, I feel a kind of peace that is mysterious and deep.  There is a reality that is not found in images and words.  It is an awesome experience.

But is that enough, when we are faced with death where the pain is so deep and the circumstances so tragic?  This is where reality challenges our faith.  What sustains me is a community of faith that will sing and recite what we believe together.  It is for me where life is sustained and healing and heaven are found.

Marvin

References

Heaven is for Real: The Motion Picture http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/heavenisforreal/

Andrew Lloyd Webber: Requiem

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/lloyd-webber-requiem/id389885292

Jonathan Elias: Prayer Cycle

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-prayer-cycle/id158477839

Hage, M. L. (2011). The Mystery of Healing. Retrieved from http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2011/04/mystery-of-healing.html

Hage, M. L. (2012). The Awe of Healing. Retrieved from http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2012/01/awe-of-healing.html